Xi'an

Highlights

• Terracotta Army (Museum of Qin Shi Huang)
• Ancient City Wall (complete 13.7 km circuit)
• Muslim Quarter and Great Mosque
• Big Wild Goose Pagoda
• Shaanxi History Museum
• Tang Paradise cultural park

Getting Around

Xi'an Xianyang International Airport (XIY) is served by domestic flights from most Chinese cities and a growing number of international routes. High-speed trains on the Zhengxi and Yinxi corridors link Xi'an to Beijing in about 4.5 hours, to Chengdu in roughly 3.5 hours, and to Zhengzhou (connection to Shanghai) in under 2 hours. The city has a growing metro network; the airport bus takes about an hour to reach the Bell Tower hub.

Food

Xi'an's street food scene is anchored in the Muslim Quarter, where vendors sell lamb skewers, hand-pulled noodles (biangbiang mian), and flatbreads stuffed with spiced mutton (rou jia mo — China's original sandwich). Paomo (crumbled flatbread soaked in lamb or beef broth) is the local comfort dish best eaten at one of the busy paomo canteens near the Great Mosque. A bowl of spicy cold noodles (liang pi) rounds out any food tour and costs just a few yuan from street stalls.

Stay

Staying inside or just outside the city wall puts you within walking distance of the Muslim Quarter, the Drum Tower, and the main tourist sites. The South Gate and Bell Tower areas have the widest range of hotels from budget guesthouses to international brands. For a more atmospheric stay, look for courtyard-style inns in the narrow lanes of the old quarter west of the Drum Tower.

Budget